About this project

Heaven -- A Short Film

$3,460

pledged of $3,000 goal

35

backers

The Movie

Director - Molly Pelavin

Producer - Katie Oscar

Director of Photography - Mike Oshins

After her mother dies, 8-year-old Emma is left sad, confused, and longing for closure. Her imagination runs wild, and she even entertains the idea of her own death, if it might bring her to her mother. One morning, she discovers a unicorn in her front yard, and takes this opportunity to go on an adventure. As Emma disappears deeper into her own imagination, she is forced to figure out how to deal with real life, and death.

This film, which will act as my Senior Thesis project for the BFA Film program at SUNY Purchase, is, as most film students’ projects are, very close to my heart. It is a reflection of both my personal struggles and my artistic desires to create something of “magical realism”. Though the story and its themes may be muddled and ambiguous, I know that this film means a lot to me, and I hope that it will have an effect on my audience. Plus, I have always wanted to make a movie with a unicorn.

Meet the Unicorn

Joey, a charming pony who resides at the Ramapo Equestrian Center in Suffern, NY, has agreed to play the unicorn in my movie.

Production

We will be shooting in the end of January, and the expenses of pre-production are already adding up.

The funds that I raise here will go towards the following:

Studio space rental for castings and rehearsals

Feeding the cast and crew

Transporting the cast and crew to and from locations

Equipment rental

Props

Wardrobe + Makeup

The creation of a unicorn horn

Pony rental + handler and shipping expenses (this is a big one)

Post-production mix

Film festival submission fees

Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated. And please spread the word!

**Video music by Peter Gramlich**

Risks and challenges

I think I had made a mental note to myself about a year ago that I should shoot my next movie entirely in a soundstage, which would have saved me the trouble of dealing with cold weather, transportation, and uncontrollable outdoor environments. When writing this script, I promptly forgot.

Some of the challenges we may face are:

• Shooting outside in the cold in the Hudson Valley
• Racing against the January sun for daylight hours
• Preventing Joey from mistaking his unicorn horn for a carrot

As with any film, I’ve learned that the final product is almost never exactly what you imagined it to be in the beginning. The script develops, actors grow into their characters, equipment malfunctions and nature has unpredictable outbursts. But this process is what makes filmmaking exciting. I’ve discovered that through these hurdles that the film gods throw at us, we often uncover what the film was really meant to be.